The present invention relates generally to pellet (e.g., wood) or biomass burning heating stoves. More particularly, this invention pertains to features and arrangements that provide a stove operable to mount on a wall.
Stoves are used to provide heat by burning a solid or pellet fuel such as wood pellets, cordwood, coal, or biomass. Pellet stoves are large appliances having a hopper storing wood pellets and a combustion chamber for burning the wood pellets. The hopper is typically located above and behind the combustion chamber of the pellet stove. An auger feeds fuel pellets from the hopper to the combustion chamber. To check the fuel supply (e.g., fuel or pellet level) in the hopper, the user must lift the top or lid off the hopper and physically check the pellet level. As a safety feature, lifting the top off the hopper causes the auger to stop, and in some models, combustion is constricted. Stopping the auger and constricting combustion reduces efficiency and increases emissions. Thus, checking fuel levels on pellet stoves requires a number of actions by a user, degrades the performance of the appliance, and reduces the time between required cleanings of the appliance. The only indication to a user that a stove has an empty fuel hopper is that the appliance stops producing heat.
Biomass and wood pellet stoves are generally used as alternatives to wood burning stoves. As such, biomass and wood pellet stoves are made with the same footprint, standing out several feet from the nearest wall and taking up valuable floor space in the room. Further, biomass and wood pellet stoves also have a combustion gas intake vent at the bottom rear of the stove and an air outlet at the top front of the stove to maximize airflow efficiency through the stove. This arrangement requires a roof top exhaust such as a chimney. Alternatively, the exhaust arrangement could go through the wall and terminate with a hood because the stove is a forced draft appliance. Additionally, the relatively low efficiency of prior art stoves required large hoppers for practical sustained operation. The weight of fuel in the hopper plus the weight of the furnace itself meant that the furnace had to rest on a floor capable of supporting the weight. These aspects limit application and consumer acceptance of biomass and wood pellet stoves stoves when compared with direct vent natural gas or propane heaters and central forced air heating systems.